Microbial “signatures” in first 100 days of life may protect against asthma

In a new study analyzing data from babies in rural Ecuador, CHILD Study researchers have confirmed their 2015 discovery that early life gut microbes play a critical role in protecting children against asthma.

The new research, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, reaffirms the importance of a baby’s first 100 days of life, when disruptions in the normal composition of microbes in the gut can affect how the immune system develops.

“Our study in Ecuador allowed us to compare the gut microbes of babies living in a tropical non-industrialized country with our findings from the Canadian cohort,” says senior author Dr. B. Brett Finlay.